La récompense

A good cast, interesting premise and catchy direction all come to not-very-much here. Max Von Sydow and Gilbert Roland do very well in off-beat parts as a weary pilot desperate for money and a sickly Mexican Cop unwillingly heading up a rag-tag posse chasing across the desert after Ephram Zimbalest as a wanted killer. Emilio Fernandez and Henry Silva add solid support, and Yvette Mimieux is nice to look at, but as the movie goes on -- and on -- there's not much for anyone to do. Serge Bourguignon's direction has its moments, but he apparently didn't care much about keeping up the pace. The result is a film that's sometime interesting to look at but not to watch. It also has the disjointed look of a film that was chopped up rather badly before release. The print aired recently on the Fox Movie Channel also lacks subtitles, which may make the long stretches of conversation in Mexican rather tedious for viewers who don't speak Spanish.

In my reassessment process for my early movies at last reaches in so awaited The Reward which I'd watched in TV on middle of 1995 according my records, while looking on IMDB's database I'm baffled over a meager 4.9 medium rating, unfortunately after this first watching it disappears from the sight, likely we have all-weather friend Youtube, there I'd found an average print that allowed a close caption, so I could understood the spoken English language between Spanish as well due it's near with Portuguese for an easy understanding of the whole plot whereof I didn't remembered a thing nowadays.

Well I've willing re-watch it again aiming for assure by myself if my early feelings have some mistaken or something missing, watching it carefully with a keen eyes the whole journey at Mexican desert by a posse track down a killer Efrem Zimbalist Jr. And his gorgeous girlfriend Ivette Mimieux for pulpy reward of 50.000 bucks, as expected the human greedy enters in game for worst, thus it is a matter of time a deadly disagreement among them, an American pilot Max Von Sydow, the Mexican Captain Gilbert Roland struck at deadly place aiming for breath new air outside, meanwhile his underling Sgt. Emilio Fernandez thinks otherwise, also an allied Indian Henry Silva has the foreboding of bad luck outcome.

In an overview it at least for me remains in same patten before, fine areal shooting on those driest landscape, on an overlong harder returning as their adrift at desert, at night they split in campfire on treacherous atmosphere or on a storm night exposing the sexy Mimieux, all this upon a vexer guitar playing by sneaky Emilio Fernandez on warmonger persona, I'm wondering it in a fully restored version, it certainly will improves it too much, sorry by the bitter reviewers!!

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1995 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 7.

When you saw his first movie, in France, LES DIMANCHES DE VILLE D'AVRAY, and you watch this film, it is very hard to compare and say that the director is the same. Poor man, I think this topic, this story was definitely not for him. The film had a great potential, yes, but not for such a sensitive director, no matter he is French or not, that's not the point. The directing is tasteless and could have been monitored by anyone in Hollywood. I would have preferred him to direct a true drama, or why not a film noir....Not a western....imagine Jean Luc Goddard making a peplum or a science fiction movie?

Max van Sydow and Yvette Mimieux in a western? With Efrem Zimbalist? What were they thinking? Even the presence of Emilio Fernandez (the great Mapache from "The Wild Bunch"), Gilbert Roland, and Henry Silva can't rescue this strange re-make of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre".

The story itself is not so bad and with different actors and a different director it might have been better. Director Serge Bourguignon is a Frenchman best known for "Sundays and Cybele" and "Two Weeks in September", not exactly the kinds of films that you think of when looking at someone to work in the Western genre.

When you think of the good westerns made in the mid 60s ("Ride the High Country", "Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "A Fistful of Dollars". "Cheyenne Autumn", "Cat Ballou", "Shenandoah", "Sons of Katie Elder", "The Wild Bunch") this film pales in comparison.

"The Reward" was a big money loser and after seeing it, I can understand why...the pacing is glacially slow. And, this isn't helped by having so much of the film set in a desert.

When the story begins, a guy (Max von Sydow) crashes his plane in Mexico. But when he sees a man wanted in the States (Efram Zimbalest Jr.), he realizes the $50,000 reward, dead or alive, will more than take care of the plane. Soon he meets up with some Mexicans who help and eventually greed takes its toll on these new-found partners.

The problem, as I mentioned above, is the pacing. Also it just felt weird to have von Sydow, ZImbalest and Yvette Mimieux in the Mexican desert. Additionally, at least on the copy I saw, it was odd not to have the Mexicans captioned as they spoke. While my Spanish is quite rusty, I was able to follow along...but how many others will just give up? A strange film that just doesn't work.